What If..?: 5 Major MCU Events That Probably Never Happened In T'Challa Star-Lord's Universe

The second episode of Marvel's What If..?, which explores a world in which T'Challa became Star-Lord instead of Peter Quill, was a bittersweet one for fans, as the series is the last time we will see Chadwick Boseman star as T'Challa in a Marvel Studios project due to his death from cancer in August 2020.

Despite Boseman's death turning the episode into a tear-jerker, it is for the most part a fun space-faring romp, with T'Challa's presence altering the Guardians Of The Galaxy universe in surprising yet believable ways. However, like the first episode, which saw Peggy Carter become a Super Soldier in place of Steve Rogers, some fans are wondering how this particular universe may have changed beyond T'Challa becoming Star-Lord. There are a few very interesting possibilities.

Here's five major MCU events that probably never happened in T'Challa Star-Lord's universe.

1. The Battle of New York

One of the most surprising changes in What If..? episode 2 is the discovery that T'Challa managed to talk Thanos out of his plans to erase half of all life in the universe. Most of the wider potential changes in this world would stem from the change in Thanos. There is a bit of wiggle room considering that we do not know at which stage in Thanos's plan T'Challa convinced him to stop, but we can assume that quite a few major events in the main MCU timeline would never have happened in T'Challa Star-Lord's world.

One of these major events is the Battle of New York from the 2012 Avengers movie. If Thanos had given up his quest for the Infinity Stones, then he never would have enlisted Loki to go to Earth and retrieve the tesseract, lent him the staff containing the Mind Stone, or granted him use of the Chitauri Army. Loki may still have come to Earth, but without the army or the inside intel he gained by taking over Clint Barton's mind with the staff, he most likely would have been defeated much sooner.

2. The Battle Of Xandar/Destruction of Xandar and the Nova Corps

Obviously, since Thanos never sent Ronan to obtain the Power Stone in T'Challa Star-Lord's world, the battle between Ronan and the Guardians of the Galaxy on Xandar would never have occurred. A lot of damage to Xandar would have been avoided, a large number of Nova Corpsmen would not have lost their lives, and the original Groot would not have died. The eventual destruction of Xandar and elimination of the Nova Corps in Avengers: Infinity War would also have been avoided.

While at this point in time, the destruction of the Nova Corps is mostly tied to Thanos obtaining the Power Stone. However, this event may have an as yet unrevealed affect on the main MCU timeline.

In the comics, the destruction of the Nova Corps is an important part of the backstory of the hero Richard Rider, aka Nova. Rider becomes Nova after being gifted a special helmet by a dying Nova Corpsman, Rhomann Dey (played by John C. Reilly in Guardians of the Galaxy). There have long been plans to introduce Nova in the MCU, with current rumours suggesting that the character will make his debut in The Marvels.

But in a world where the Nova Corps were never destroyed, Nova may never exist.

3. Ultron's attack on Sokovia

Now, back to events unfolding on Earth. Aside from an absent or shortened Battle of New York, if Loki had never brought the sceptre containing the Mind Stone to Earth, then it would never have fallen into the hands of HYDRA. If the sceptre had never been in HYDRA's possession, they would not have been able to perform the experiments that unlocked powers in the Maximoff twins.

Flowing on from this, if Wanda Maximoff had never had her powers unlocked/boosted by the Mind Stone, then she never would have caused Tony Stark to experience the vision that prompted him to create Ultron. Without Ultron, the battle of Sokovia.

And without the battle of Sokovia, we wouldn't have:

4. The Sokovia Accords/Civil War

Without the destruction in Sokovia, and Wanda Maximoff's powers causing a tragic accident in Lagos, the Governments of the world may never have seen the need to implement the Sokovia Accords. With no Sokovia Accords, the Avengers, if the Avengers even existed, wouldn't disagree over them. Therefore, no Civil War.

Avoiding the accident in Lagos, which killed some Wakandan citizens, means that King T'Chaka would not have had to travel to Vienna to witness the signing of the accords. In T'Challa Star-Lord's world, his Father's death was most likely avoided.

5. The Destruction of the Asgardian refugee ship

One tragic event that probably would not be avoided in T'Challa Star-Lord's world is the destruction of Asgard. Ragnarok is a pre-destined event in Norse mythology, a foregone conclusion. As much as Thor tried, there was no way to avoid Ragnarok in the main MCU timeline, so while the path that got them there may be different, the destruction of Asgard most likely remained unavoidable.

What could have been avoided was what happened afterwards. With Thanos having turned over a new leaf, there would have been no reason for him to intercept the ship carrying the surviving Asgardians to take the Tesseract and kill half of those on board. The refugees of Asgard would have made it to Earth safely, and Loki and Heimdall would most likely have lived. So, it seems like T'Challa Star-Lord's world may have been better for everyone.

At least it was, until Ego probably destroyed it all.

We can't wait to see which unique scenario What If..? serves up next.